Back in April, no one could have predicted an oil spill 19 times worse than the Exxon Valdez. To date, more than 154 million gallons has been burned, skimmed, captured or dispersed on its own, representing about 75 percent of the total spill.

"The entire Gulf of Mexico was a hot spot, so now we're dealing with what I call hot spots where we have heavy oil, moderate oil and light oil," Coast Guard Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft said.

Hot spots like Gulf Shores, Ala., where the mayor's given BP until February 2011 to clean up the beaches. But to whose satisfaction?

"We're not capable of deciding that and neither is BP," Mayor Robert Craft said.

Conflicting standards, they're the issue with this continuing cleanup, and six months later, with the region's economic recovery, who deserves BP compensation and how much?